Metallic Roses
by P0k3yGam3rGirl
Summary: The future is never set in stone, as Sonic watches his friends fall one by one in a final war against Robotnik, all hope is lost. Sonic is captured by Robotnik and is roboticized. And yet, encased in metal, he is still able to call upon the power of the chaos emeralds and manages to travel to the past, hoping to stop this bad future and save his friends and the girl he loves.
1. Prologue 1

The sun hung low in the sky over the planet of Mobius. The wind that swept across the dry landscape of the Arid Sands zone caused sand, dust and dirt to hang thickly in the air. It was chilling and could send shivers to the very innermost parts of your soul. In the midst of the large desert, as far as the naked eye could see was carnage. Corpses littered the ground and the scent of blood hung thick and heavy in the air. Amidst the corpses there small team of Mobians who searched for anyone still alive. Within the group there was a single cerulean hedgehog who limped through the bodies and past the team with a makeshift crutch.

Every step was laboured, but he still pushed on. His heart ached like it never had before. His eyes watered at the sight around him and he pulled his brown bandanna around his neck over his nose to block out the scent that left him feeling nauseous. Within his mind he whispered a silent prayer to Light Gaia, the deity who watched over the planet with love to guide the souls of those who died here into an everlasting peace.

As he walked, he was looking for a childhood friend of his. He hadn't seen her back at camp when Robotnik drew back for the day, so he volunteered to come with the team to gather the bodies and take them back to camp for a proper burial. He had hoped to find her among the wounded, but as minutes passed he began to fear for the worst. Then all at once he felt his heart sink. Before him laid the mangled corpse of the friend he used to know. He began to tremble as an immense sadness washed over him.

He had insisted she and another person dear to him stayed away from the battlefield while he was sent on a secret mission, as he was worried about their safety. But this friend, the princess insisted that she help. She told him that this was it. The final battle had to take place on the only free ground that wasn't under that evil tyrants control. She told him that she would protect her people until her dying breath. She was one of his closest friends, and now just like a candle, her life had been snuffed out, leaving only precious memories.

He slowly and carefully began to sit down to cry at the loss of his friend, but as he did, his crutch snapped in half and he fell to the earth with a dull thud. He let out a small whimper as he lay in the sand in pain. He slowly sat up and grimaced. He began to wipe sand off his bleeding legs. During his mission that day he got too close to a bomb in order to save a young child who'd gotten mixed up in the fight. The explosion left shrapnel buried deep into his legs and in his lower back. it was a miracle he was still able to walk, with how much pain he was in, but he put his pain aside in order to be there for everyone.

He took a deep breath to steady himself, then he carefully pulled the chipmunks head onto his lap. He sat remembering a long time ago back when they were kids. she told him that she loved it when her hair was braided, because it made her feel pretty. He had asked Rosie that day to teach him how to braid hair, and she taught him. Of course, this was back when he still had a crush on her. A small smile played across his face as he subconsciously began to braid her hair. He couldn't carry her back to camp, so he waved over a member of the team he had travelled with. "I promise Sal, if I make it out of this alive, I'll give you and everyone else a proper burial." He swore.

He looked around at all the bodies, some crows were hopping around the ground, tearing small bits of flesh off of what was once his friends and allies. He felt enraged, as he forced himself to a standing position. "Go away!" He yelled as he limped towards the birds, hoping to scare them off. The crows took off to they sky, and disappeared, but he was sure they'd come back. He looked down at the ground as a wave of helplessness washed over him. The team member he called over placed a hand on his shoulder but he shrugged them off. He still pushed on as he continued limping through the bodies. The sight was beginning to make him sick, and he felt nauseated. He began to sway, and fell to his knees.

The instant pain, the sight before him and the smells all caught up to him quickly. His body repelled the little bit of breakfast he had eaten. A shudder travelled up and down his spine as the vile tasting vomit spewed from his mouth. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and just sat there, feeling paralysed. The same team member had followed him and once again placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked at him and smiled weakly. He coughed and bit his lip trying to hold back the tears that wanted to stream down his face. He had to be the strong one. He was the hero.

It was his duty to be brave, selfless and pure. Someone others could look up to. He never asked for this. He just wanted to be a normal guy, but all that was taken from him as he was flung into a battle that he never wanted to be a part of. He only joined the fight because his parents had been killed by the robots that Robotnik built. He wanted justice for what had been done, Robotnik had to rightfully pay for his crimes, locked away where he couldn't hurt anyone ever again. The blue hedgehog though, at this very moment felt so many negative emotions, building up, like they could explode if he wasn't careful. At this point, he almost wished that Robotnik would just die.

He felt a another hand on his other shoulder, snapping him out of the downward spiral he was falling into. He looked up and saw two beautiful jade eyes, sparkling and full of life looking down at him. The girl before him brushed a few loose strands of her sakura coloured quills out of her face. Her hand was outstretched, wanting to help him and he gladly took it.

"Ames, I ..." He began to say.

She placed her fingers on his lips gently. "Shhhhhh. Let's just get back to camp, okay, Sonic?" She looked at the team member who was worried for him. "Don't worry, I've got him. Thank you though." Amy said. The other Mobian nodded as he returned to his team, but stopped to pick up Sally and carry her back to where they were loading their friends onto an old rusty truck.

Sonic looked at Amy and nodded weakly in defeat. Amy helped brace him as they walked on the long trek back. The two didn't say anything during that time, but their exhaustion and pain was etched into their faces. The entire trip would take an hour at the pace they were going, and as they were almost there, the wind began to pick up, and the scent of an oncoming desert storm was in the air. The two hedgehogs hurried as quickly as they could, until they finally reached safety. Amy opened the door of their base, centred in the ruins of what was just named three days ago, New New Mobotropolis.

People were scrambling about, trying to keep busy. Some were tending to the wounded. Some were sharpening weapons. Some were making food from the last remnants that was salvaged. And some were mourning their lost ones from that days battle. Even the children who would normally be so full of life and running around playing were sitting quietly. The boys would talk to each other in whispers and most of the girls sat holding onto a precious doll or toy in silence. He smiled at a young rabbit named Cream who was helping her mother change the bandages on a badly wounded Vector. Sonic stepped away from Amy and limped over to the young girl. She looked up at him with large chocolate brown eyes. Sonic tousled her hair and asked, "You helping your mommy out?" The girl simply nodded. "Good job." Sonic said "Keep it up!"

Sonic looked over at Amy who was at the moment, comforting Antoine. Sonic walked up to the two. "What's wrong, Ant?" Sonic asked.

"Bunnie ... she ... she's dead!" Antoine choked on the words, as tears rolled freely down his cheeks. He looked at Sonic with bright blue eyes. "She ... she ... just di-died in the h-hospital. I go-got a text from ... and she's dead!"

Sonic felt his heart sink. Antoine and Bunnie were newly-weds, and they were some of his closest friends. He placed his hand on Antione's shoulder, who in turn threw his arms around Sonic and wept loudly. Sonic was shocked by the sudden tight hug, even though he wasn't a super touchy-feely kind of guy, he let his friend cry it out on his shoulder. Sonic felt Amy hug Antoine as well, and the three friends stood there in embrace.

Minutes passed and slowly Antoine pulled away. He wiped his tears away and took a deep breath. "I-I'm gonna go." He said quietly. Sonic and Amy both nodded as Antoine walked away towards the hospital to see his dead wife one last time.

"Amy." Sonic began. Amy looked at him expectantly. "Are we doing the right thing?"

"Sonic! Why would you even say that! Of course we are!"

"I know it's just, we've lost so many people. Just last week most of the Chaotix, Rouge and Rotor lost their lives for our cause. Our friends and family are all dying around us. Today it was Bunnie and Sally. I can't stand to lose anyone else. I ... I can't stand to lose you or Tails, too!"

Amy smiled weakly at Sonic. "I'm not going anywhere Sonic. I'll always be right," she poked his heart, "here."

Sonic frowned at Amy. "That's not what I meant Amy!"

Amy sighed and shook her head at him. "I'm not going anywhere Sonic. I'll be here until the end. I promise. But you have to promise too!" She held up her pinky to Sonic.

"Seriously Amy? A pinky promise?"

"Sonic!"

"Okay. Okay. Fine." He grabbed her pinky with his own and sighed. The two hedgehogs resting their foreheads on the other in silence, temporarily ignoring the calamity going on around them. Amy sighed, and pulled away from Sonic as she smiled at him.

"I'm gonna go help the cook make dinner. You should go see Dr. Quack." She said as she waved goodbye.

Sonic sighed, he had something else he needed to do first. He carefully trekked through the camp and found Shadow, Knuckles, Tails, Nicole and Tikal all in their makeshift conference room. Nicole had pulled up schematic's for one of Robotniks robot factories. She had been talking to the group in a hushed tone. Sonic knocked on a nearby pillar, alerting them of his presence. "Hey." He said quietly.

The group murmured their greetings, and all fell silent between the group. Sonic walked towards a chair and sat down with a groan from the pain he was in. He looked down at the ground and everyone waited for him to gather his wits and say something to break the silence.

He coughed and then began. "We need to talk. We've been suffering these past few years and we've all suffered terrible losses today." He began. "I know it's hard, but we've got to stay strong and not give up the fight. With that being said, Sally is dead. She was a dear friend and the most brilliant strategist we could hope for. I do think, that even with her gone we should vote for a new leader to help rally the troops and plan our next move."

Nicole gasped in shock and almost fell over at the news that her best friend had passed away. Tails, who was standing next to her, caught her before she fell to the ground. Her lip trembled and she began to cry softly. As Tails helped Nicole to her feet he spoke up, "Sonic, I think you should be our new leader, at least for now. It only makes sense since you've always been the leader whenever Sally was away." He looked around the room for support. Tikal and Knuckles nodded in agreement. Shadow stayed absolutely still.

"Uhh guys, I'm not really a good leader. That was Sally's thing, not mine. I did it when I had to, sure, but this is different!" Sonic said nervously. Truth be told he thought at this point Shadow or Nicole would be a better tactician and leader than him.

Shadow looked at Sonic, "I don't think you should be the leader, but what everyone needs right now is a hero, so I say majority rules here. Just prove to me you have what it takes to be a good leader, and I'll follow you to the end."

"Then it's agreed." Knuckles said. "So Sonic, what's the plan? How are we gonna end this war?"

Sonic looked at his friends and bit his lip. "I ... I don't know. I guess we should separate into three teams tomorrow, one team should be on the front lines more or less as a decoy, luring Robotnik off track, while some of our power hitter's scout and find his factories, then blow them up so he can't produce robots as fast. That should give us the edge we need to win this war. But I'm not sure, because ..."

Knuckles interjected and said, "Sounds like a good enough plan to me."

Nicole nodded through her tears and she added, "I would like to point out that in order to help fool Robotnik, Sonic should be on the front lines this time. If Robotnik sees Sonic there, he might not think we have two different sneak attacks planned."

"Okay." Sonic said slowly. "Knuckles and Shadow, you lead the team to blow up the spare factories, Tikal you stay here to help the injured, Nicole, can I trust you to lead the another search team?"

Nicole nodded. "Of course Sonic." She said.

Tails looked at Sonic expectantly. Sonic shook his head. "Sorry buddy. It's too dangerous for you."

Tails pouted unhappily, but Sonic placed his hand on his younger brothers shoulder. "I need you to stay here, to help keep up moral support from the citizens, and help whoever is left to fortify our defenses."

Tails sighed, "I really wanted to help you."

"I know, bud." Sonic hugged his younger brother and Tails hugged him back. Their embrace lasted for a short while before Sonic grinned mischievously as he tousled his younger brothers fur, causing Tails to groan, annoyed.

There was a moment of silence, then Nicole spoke. "It's late," Nicole said, "We should all get our dinner and go to bed. I'll take first watch."

Knuckles stretched and yawned, "Okay." He left the room. Slowly everyone else trickled out, to get some much needed food and rest for the next day.

Soon Sonic was the only one in the room. He rested his head on the table in silence. Usually he was so full of energy but as of late he was drained both mentally and physically. He shut his eyes for a few minutes and drifted off into a light dreamless sleep. He woke up when he felt someone shaking him. It was Amy with a tray of food. Amy sat next to Sonic as he quickly at the measly meal in silence. Amy then helped Sonic stand up and walked him down to the medic bay. They stood in the doorway and Sonic looked Amy in the eyes. "You'd better not get yourself killed tomorrow." He said.

"Same goes for you." Amy replied teasingly.

"I mean it Ames. I don't know what I'd do without you." He placed his hand gently on her cheek, caressing it and finally inhaled her sweet scent, before their lips made contact. the kiss was sweet and slow. Amy moaned happily, and Sonic held her close to him. After a good minute, they both pulled away, and Sonic hugged Amy tightly. He had a weird feeling in his chest, like this might be the last time he'd ever see her alive. He didn't want to let go, but he did.

He limped into the room and lied on the table so Doctor Quack could remove the shrapnel in his legs and back, give him some pain killers and stitch him up to where he'd be somewhat able to fight the next morning. He drifted in and out of sleep as he was worked on. It was almost four in the morning when Doctor Quack was finished.

Sonic woke up suddenly in his room. He sat up and stared at the floor lost in thought. "Tomorrow is gonna be hell." He muttered under his breath. Then his eyelids closed once more, trying to catch just a little more sleep before what would be the final battle against Robotnik.


	2. Prologue 2

The sun was beginning to peek it's head along the distant desert horizon marking the dawn of a new day. Within an hour the sun would be fully up and it was at this time that everyone within New New Mobotropolis was beginning to stir. Everyone except Sonic himself. He lay in bed trapped within a nightmare that he couldn't wake from. He tossed and turned in his bed, mumbling incoherent sentences. The longer the nightmare dragged on, the worse it got until finally he sat up in bed, screaming in terror.

He quickly looked around his room and took quick deep breathes to try to soothe his nerves, "It was just a nightmare." He mumbled to himself in reassurance. He sat on his bed with his back against the wall with his legs curled up and held himself tightly. He finally took one last deep breath and slapped his cheeks with both his hands to not only wake himself up but to startle himself out of the panic he had been in. "It wasn't real, so there's no reason for me to be scared." He said out loud.

He climbed out of bed and shuddered at the chill morning air. He reached for his usual attire which consisted of a brown bandanna, a brown vest, brown backpack, yellowish white gloves with the fingers cut off, yellowish white socks and red sneakers. He tied up the laces to his shoes and sighed. "Another day, another fight." He tilted his head from side to side until he head a satisfying crack and did a few quick stretches before he opened his bedroom door and walked into the hallway of the living quarters. He could hear the bustling of people waking up and hushed whispers. He walked down the hallway until he stopped at a familiar door and knocked.

"Hey Sal..." He began before he cut himself short and his heart sank. "Ohh, right." He said quietly before looking down at the floor. "You're not with us anymore."

He stood there in silence before he heard a small cough. He look down to see Tails standing next to him. "I miss her too, Sonic." Tails said with a small smile. Sonic could only nod. There wasn't time for grieving, that would come later after this was was finally won, or lost. "Come on, let's go get some food, I'm starving!" Tails exclaimed.

Sonic had to smile at his little brother, even with all that had happened, Tails kept a brave face and tried to keep smiling for everyone around him. "You're pretty tough, you know that right, kiddo?" Sonic asked.

"I have to be." Tails said simply as they walked to the dining hall. "Everyone is trying their best so I have to do my best too." Sonic couldn't think of anything to say in response but he felt a mixture of pride and sadness for his brother. He was proud of how hard Tails tried and saddened by the fact that Tails didn't even have time to grieve, but then again, no-one really had a chance to grieve anymore.

Sonic and Tails entered the dining hall and sat down to oatmeal with a small selection of dried fruits to otherwise spice up the bland meal. Sonic put in a few blackberries and began to eat the food. He'd never been fond of oatmeal but with rations slowly running out, this was all they could eat and the fruit was a special treat. Tails gagged at the food and frowned. "Oatmeal again? I hate oatmeal!" He pouted.

Sonic patted Tails on the shoulder. "I know what you mean. But hey at least we have fruit this time around!"

Tails grumbled under his breath but ate his breakfast nonetheless. Sonic looked around for his friends, and once they saw him waving to them, walked over. With another quick glance Sonic counted everyone who was left. It was hard to get an exact count but he was sure that he saw a little more than fifty people in that cramped room. Knuckles sat next to him and Tikal next to Knuckles. Nicole approached the end of the table with a very concerned expression.

"What's wrong Nicole? You look like someone put mealworms in your oatmeal." Sonic half-heartedly joked.

"Have any of you seen Amy? I went to wake her up but she wasn't in her room." Nicole asked. Everyone at the table slowly looked at eachother and then shook their heads.

"Isn't she with Cream?" Knuckles questioned, "I know that they're pretty close, like sisters."

"That's just it. I asked Vanilla and she said she hasn't seen Amy anywhere and neither has Cream."

"She can't be very far." Shadow said quietly as he walked past the group. "She knows it's dangerous to go somewhere without a partner."

"You're right, but still I'm worried." Nicole said.

Sonic looked down at his breakfast and suddenly lost his appetite. He stood up and pushed his plate away. "I'm going to go look for Amy. She must be around her somewhere."

"Do you want me to come help you find her, Sonic?" Tails and Knuckles asked at the same time.

"No thanks." Sonic said simply as he left the room. "I can find her on my own."

He began to walk through the entire compound and checked every inch he possibly could. He knocked on every bedroom door, he asked every single passing person, but no-one had seen her since last night. With each passing moment he could feel hysteria setting in. He walked faster, called her name louder and panicked. "AMMMYYYYY!" His shouts echoed down empty corridors. He walked even faster, unaware that he had begun to pull the stitching out of his legs and a thin trail of blood began to trickle down his legs and into his socks.

Sonic left the compound to go outside and ask if any of the guards had seen Amy. Just like everyone inside, no-one had seen her since last night. Until finally he came to the last guard, a large yellowish white polar bear who nodded.

"Where is she? Where did she go?" Sonic asked.

The polar bear looked around before saying. "She left early this morning to go harvest some desert plants that might have medicinal properties."

"When did she come back?" Sonic bit his lip nervously.

The polar bear shrugged, "I don't know, I do know I left my post for a short time to go eat." He pointed at a green duck who was busy playing with a bouncy ball, "He should know when she came back so you should ask him."

Sonic took an angry deep breath. "Fine." He mumbled. He walked back over to the duck that he saw right before this polar bear. "Your friend over there says you were also watching his post while he went to go get breakfast. Did you see anyone come back?"

"I dunno, I was to busy playing with this fun bouncy-ball. Want to try it? It's super shiny and bouncy!" The duck said cheerfully.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "No I don't want to play, I want to find my missing friend."

The duck shrugged, "M'kay, but you're really missin' out."

Sonic groaned in frustration. He decided to go back inside and check everywhere again to see he accidentally missed her in his search to find her.

Sonic searched everywhere again, this time more thoroughly and once again asked everyone. Still, every answer was the same, no-one saw Amy leave or come back. The more time passed the more Sonic began to panic. Amy wasn't answering her cellphone and that only made the growing pit in Sonic's stomach feel worse.

He began to pace the hallways quickly, his hands shaking as he began to fear the worst. "Sonic! Stop it!" Someone shouted. Sonic turned around to see Shadow behind him.

Sonic grabbed Shadow by his shirt collar. "I've got to find Amy! She could be hurt or worse and no-one knows where she is!" Sonic's breathing grew heavy and he was visibly trembling.

Shadow frowned and with one hand slapped Sonic across the face. "We will find her, but first you need to stop panicking." Shadow said calmly.

Sonic rubbed his face where Shadows hand made contact. The slap he was given caused him to suddenly snap back to reality. "It's just that I feel like something bad has already happened to her and I don't know where she is and because my legs aren't healing fast enough I can't run anymore.."

"Trust me, and I know it's not usually my style to say so, but, Amy is a tough girl, you shouldn't be so worried because she can handle herself in a fight and you know that." Shadow said with a slight smile. "I'll help you find her, but only because she is my friend, too."

Sonic nodded slowly. "Okay."

The two hedgehogs stood there in silence before Sonic finally said, "Maybe we should go check outside again?" Shadow nodded and the two started to head outside before a loud crackle rumbled through the PA system strung through the entire compound. "SONIC! GET IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM IMMEDIATELY! IT'S ABOUT AMY!" Nicoles voice shouted. She sounded terrified and Sonic felt like his heart was going to stop beating.

Just when he almost had his hopes up that Amy might be safe somewhere, the tone of Nicole's voice told him otherwise. He felt his entire body freeze up for a split second.

Shadows usually stoic expression suddenly turned to one of extreme concern. "Let's go!" He grabbed Sonic's arm to pull him in the direction of the conference room. Sonic nodded as he followed behind Shadow. Shadow and Amy shared a very close almost sibling like bond and Sonic could tell that Shadow was just as worried as he was. It seemed like an eternity before the pair reached the conference room when in all actuality it was just a few minutes. Nicole had a laptop hooked up to a screen and Sonic felt a crippling panic at the live video before him on screen.

Robotnik held Amy up by the back of her light purple nightdress. Her hands were tied in front of her in chains and her mouth was gagged. She was obviously crying and large black and blue bruises were starting to cover her face, neck and shoulders. Robotnik stood there laughing menacingly. "This is it, hedgehog." Robotnik spat. "If you want your precious girlfriend back, surrender to me and I'll let the rest of the Mobians you have hiding with you become my slaves. Defy me and ..." He made a slitting motion with his finger against Amy's throat. "Well I'm sure you get the picture. Because I am so generous I will give you exactly three hours to turn yourselves in. And because I am even more gracious, here are the exact coordinates so you don't get lost. But if you bring anyone of your friends with you, I will kill Amy on spot."

Amy made muffled noises through her gag but everyone knew she was begging to be rescued. "Robotnik you bastard!" Sonic shouted.

"Tsk tsk. I'm shocked to hear such foul language from you. Besides, the clock is ticking. You'd better make up your mind soon."

The video feed cut off abruptly.

"Amy!" Sonic and Shadow said at the same time.

Sonic looked at Shadow and Nicole and then clenched his fists. "That's it. I'm sick of Robotnik pushing us around! I'm sick of him taking away our friends and I'll be damned if I let him kill Amy."

"Sonic be rational! You're just going to give up and let Robotnik win because he's holding Amy hostage?" Nicole exclaimed. "You really want everyone here to become his slaves where we'll be worked to death in his factories?"

"No! I'm just sick of it all. I ... I don't know." Sonic looked down at the ground.

"How about this then?" Shadow spoke up. "Sonic, I have a plan. You will go to Robotnik while Knuckles, a small team of Freedom Fighters and myself sneak in to help you take him down once and for all."

Sonic shook his head. "I can't have you do that. He said he only wants me there. If he even remotely thinks you followed me I'm sure he'll kill Amy before we can have a chance to do anything. I would run in with a blaze of glory but with how my legs are, I can't run anymore. Maybe I can come up with a compromise or something. I mean I'm sure that's what Amy would want me to do."

Shadow slammed his fist on the table. "If only Robotnik didn't have all the Chaos Emeralds, I could chaos control myself inside and rescue Amy before he could do anything." He said angrily.

Sonic looked at Shadow with shock from the ebony hedgehogs sudden violent outburst. He couldn't think of anything to say, but it was true, without the Chaos Emeralds, Shadow couldn't access his chaos powers, which only left him feeling powerless deep down inside.

Sonic placed a hand on Shadows shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll get Amy back alive somehow and we'll end this war. Even if it kills me, I promise we'll be free someday." Sonic bit his lip then took a deep breath.

"Nicole, send the coordinates to my phone. I'll take one of the dune buggys and go alone."

"Sonic you can't! You know we can't trust Robotnik!" Nicole pleaded. "There must be some other way!"

Sonic smiled weakly, "I don't think there's any other way." With that being said he turned and started to walk out of the room.

"Just come back alive and with Amy or else I'll kill you." Shadow said solemnly.

Sonic turned to face Shadow and with a smirk said, "Like I said, don't worry, I'm not gonna go down that easily! Besides, I promised I'd bring Amy back alive. Have a little faith in me!"


End file.
